From Marketing with McDonald’s to Cinemas, The Car Rental, Print and Travel Industries, and Ultimately on to A Key Focus in the Parcel and Logistics Industry as the CEO of CouriersPlease, You’d Never Know Richard Thame Started Business Life as an Accountant!
Episode Timeline
- 0:00 – Intro
- 0:22 – Welcome
- 1:44 – A big believer in the franchise business model
- 2:50 – Diverse path from accounting to realisation it wasn’t for him
- 4:25 – Opportunity with McDonald’s: from accounting to marketing role
- 5:20 – What he loved about product marketing at McDonald’s
- 6:59 – Moving to film industry with Greater Union during video store boom
- 9:00 – Back into franchising with Thrifty, lessons in commoditised industries
- 11:45 – Role in travel tech: millions of bookings & franchise supplier connection
- 14:00 – First foray into parcel/logistics with Fastway Couriers
- 15:40 – Early focus on online retail (2008)
- 17:50 – Franchise logistics vs postal networks
- 19:23 – Rising franchise entry costs & using it as life/wealth springboard
- 21:33 – 10 years at Fastway → CEO role at Snap Printing
- 24:42 – Franchise networks during COVID challenges
- 26:50 – Transition to CouriersPlease & parcel/logistics return
- 28:21 – Large retail contracts + tools for franchise partners
- 29:04 – Consumer deliveries shift: lockers vs pick-up/drop-off points
- 31:08 – Using customer data responsibly, ML & tech investment
- 32:12 – Sustainability: eco-packaging & EV initiatives
- 33:30 – Passion for franchising & FCA involvement
- 36:43 – Family life balance: kids aged 3, 6, 20, 22
- 39:18 – Crystal ball: gaps, franchisor-franchisee relations & tech embrace
A common thread through much of Richard’s career has been around the franchise sector with most roles directly related. A quick realisation that accounting wasn’t for him, Richard started at McDonald’s in accounting and was able to cross disciplines into marketing for the brand.
Exposure to industries undergoing significant change has been typical with cinemas at the time of his role there battling video stores for relevance, and his time in the car rental industry with transitioning rapidly to booking cars online and not over the counter.
Seeing online retail as the future in 2008, as at the time, CEO of Fastway Couriers, Richard and his team set about positioning the business for that future.
Enticed back to parcel and logistics with CouriersPlease, Richard is very focused on the franchisor / franchisee relationship and making that the best it can be to enable the growth of the business, building on a sustainable point of difference, and embracing technology at the same time.
All the while playing the role of husband and a father to 4 boys with everything that having a 3,6,20, and 22 year old children age spread brings with it!
